


next time, for sure

by falloutgirl



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: 5+1 Things, Awkward Kim Jongin | Kai, Dancer Kim Jongin | Kai, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Gift Fic, M/M, side chanyeol/baekhyun - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:13:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25961908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutgirl/pseuds/falloutgirl
Summary: Jongin only has one goal in mind and that is trying to successfully ask his boss, Junmyeon, out on a date.But it seems like everything—and everyone else, too—keeps getting in the way.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Kim Junmyeon | Suho
Comments: 28
Kudos: 112





	next time, for sure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zvirk77](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zvirk77/gifts).



> this is a gift fic for zvirk77! Thank you so much for your patience with this fic and also thank you for what a wonderful prompt. I hope you enjoy this fic, thank you for prompting Sukai!
> 
> This fic is lightly beta'd, all mistakes herein are my own. This is also my first time writing for this pairing, which is funny because it's definitely one of my favorites! I hope you all enjoy it, as I definitely want to write for them again in the future!! 
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy! <3

1.

Jongin is in the midst of making himself a sandwich to eat, both as a way to feed himself before his shift at the dance studio, but mostly as a distraction from the countless thoughts of Junmyeon that seem to follow him everywhere. Junmyeon, his favorite hyung, who owns the dance studio Jongin works in despite not knowing a shred of dancing, who always drops by during Jongin’s ballet lessons, who brings him food, drinks, and anything else Jongin may need. Junmyeon even bought him that expensive _kombucha_ tea once, much to Jongin’s chagrin and his co-worker Taemin’s laughter. 

Because Jongin _hates_ kombucha. He absolutely loathes it. And yet he drank the sour drink with a big smile on his face, because watching Junmyeon give him a crinkly eyed smile in return was enough to get Jongin through the back to back advanced ballet technique classes he had that afternoon. Taemin teased him more than anyone else did, but Jongin took it all in stride, the smile hard to erase from his expression.

Which is why Jongin is here now, in the employee lounge, furiously patting peanut almond butter onto some bread slices as he tries to psych himself up to ask Junmyeon out. It can’t be that hard, Jongin thinks. He’s been working at the dance studio for about a year, and was personally hired by Junmyeon himself. Baekhyun said it was a _sure thing_ , with nothing more than a glint in his eye. All Jongin had to do would be to put himself out there, and just simply _ask._ Sure, the worst thing that could happen would be that Junmyeon tells Jongin no and then Jongin has to cover his face in shame and find another place of employment and— _dear God, what does that mean for his students_ — 

“Fuck,” Jongin says outloud, physically shaking himself to get rid of those types of thoughts. _Don’t chicken out. Don’t chicken out._ He closes the jar of peanut almond butter before placing it back into the employee fridge, the lid and jar itself covered with his name all over it in dark pink sharpie.

Jongin gets so caught up in his own head as he tries to prepare himself to ask Junmyeon out, that he doesn’t realize he’s no longer alone in the employee lounge.

“Whatcha doing, bigshot?” Taemin grins.

“I’m trying to eat before class,” Jongin says, jumping nearly a foot in the air at Taemin’s presence.

“Hmm,” Taemin says thoughtfully, eyeing Jongin’s untouched sandwich on the table. “A little birdie told me you’re trying to ask out our boss for a date.”

“ _Baekhyun_ ,” Jongin grumbles, even though there’s no real heat behind it. Taemin only laughs in response, utterly amused. 

“Come on,” he eggs on with an eye roll, “how hard can it be?” Taemin shuffles around inside the cupboards looking for snacks, before settling on eating someone else’s box of cookies. “Just tell him you wanna bone!” he says, while his mouth is covered with cookie crumbs, “just say, ‘Junmyeon hyung, I think we should _fuck_ ,’” Taemin dusts off the cookie crumbs on the front of his shirt while Jongin makes a disgusted face at him.

“Stop eating Baekhyun’s cookies, you know he’s going to blame me!” Jongin says, ripping the box from Taemin’s hands and placing it on the table. Baekhyun is the meanest receptionist in the _world_. He does not like to get on his bad side, especially where it concerns his sweets. “And it’s not that easy. I can’t just waltz up to Junmyeon and ask him out! I don’t want to be lame.”

Taemin rolls his eyes at Jongin, reaching for another cookie as Jongin swats his hands away. “Stop being such a scaredy cat,” Taemin says, unbothered.

“You are such a little fucking piece of s—”

The door to the employee lounge opens with a bang and Jongin stops mid sentence to turn towards the noise. He is greeted by the sight of Junmyeon, in a pressed blue button down and glasses, carrying six different grocery bags in his hands. 

“I bought snacks!” Junmyeon says, lugging them in. Jongin moves to help him.

“What’s all this, boss?” Jongin asks.

Junmyeon rolls his eyes at the title. “Just ‘hyung’ is fine, Jonginnie,” Junmyeon says, and butterflies erupt in Jongin’s stomach. All too easily he remembers the plan for today. Junmyeon sets the bags down on the table, and Jongin goes through them, seeing a lot of his favorite snacks in the bags.

“I know you like strawberries,” Junmyeon says, as Jongin carries out three different boxes of strawberry flavored wafers. “It’s good to eat unhealthily sometimes.” He gives Jongin a small smile as Jongin fights the blush threatening to cover his cheeks. He ignores Taemin’s gagging noise in the background.

“Aw, thanks,” Jongin says, already feeling like tearing into one of the bags and eating half of it. He looks at Junmyeon gently, feeling a little touched at his thoughtfulness. Junmyeon meets his gaze again, a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth. _Do it,_ Jongin tells himself, _Do it right now before you lose focus_.

Jongin opens his mouth, poised to ask Junmyeon out, when— 

“Wh-What’s in this sandwich?” Taemin interrupts, and his voice sounds muffled. Jongin whips his head around, ready to bitch at Taemin for ruining their moment. But instead of seeing a shiteating grin on Taemin’s face, what he’s met with is Taemin’s cheeks, big and swollen, and his eyes red and puffy. 

“Th-The s-sandwich—” Taemin gasps out, “what was in the sa-sandwich?”

“Peanut and almond—”

“Allergic,” Taemin gasps out, breathing coming out uneven, “Aller—”

“Oh my God, Taemin!” Junmyeon says, dropping the snacks he’s holding back onto the table and rushing over, phone in hand as he dials 119.

“Jongin, grab the first aid kit from the front desk!” Junmyeon shouts, “I have an epipen in there for him.”

Jongin nods his head and rushes out of the lounge to grab the first aid kit. He feels a slight tremor of annoyance at being interrupted from asking out Junmyeon, but his heart swells at the fact that Junmyeon has an epipen in his first aid kit simply because one of his employees has an peanut allergy.

As he rushes back into the lounge with the bag and watches the way Junmyeon stabs Taemin in the leg with the pen to alleviate his swelling while they wait for the paramedics to arrive, Jongin can’t help but feel giddy at the way Junmyeon always takes care of his own.

Even if he didn’t get to ask him out on that date yet.

There’s always next time.

2.

“Things didn’t really go my way the last time,” Jongin tells Baekhyun as he hangs over the reception desk in the front of the dance school, “but this time I think it’ll work out!”

Baekhyun laughs, fingers clicking against the keyboard. “I heard about what happened,” he says.

“Maybe Taemin won’t eat my food from now on,” Jongin grumbles at the memory.

“We both know that’s unrealistic,” Baekhyun snorts. There’s a beat of silence before he says, “I think you need to ‘woo’ Junmyeon. Get him flowers, maybe. Do something grand.”

“It’s funny you mention that,” Jongin continues, “but that’s why I’m down here in the lobby. I ordered a floral arrangement and this guy is supposed to drop it off.”

“How romantic,” Baekhyun chimes, stuffing some cookies in his mouth, “I still think you could literally tell Junmyeon, ‘hey, I wanna bone you!’ and your point would get across quite the same.”

“You’re disgusting,” Jongin says, wrinkling his nose.

“I have been called worse,” Baekhyun smiles.

Jongin chats with Baekhyun for a little bit longer, waiting for the floral arrangement to arrive. He doesn’t want to be corny, but he did in fact order a dozen roses. Junmyeon looks like a _roses_ type of guy. All sweet and sentimental. Jongin thinks Junmyeon will give him one of those crinkly smiles again, and at least Jongin can use his hands to hold the flowers instead of letting them fidget at his side. 

“Oh, hell, no,” Baekhyun’s voice grumbles out, sharp. Jongin looks up from his phone to turn to see where Baekhyun’s looking. There’s a tall, muscular man in a dark brown delivery uniform holding a bouquet of roses in his hands. Jongin thinks this must be his order and is about to take the flowers, out of the man’s hands, but— 

“What are you doing here, Chanyeol?!” Baekhyun screeches, “This is my place of employment!”

“Why are you getting mad at me?” the man—Chanyeol—seems to say, “I’m on duty!”

“Yeah right!” Baekhyun fires back, and honest to god _vaults_ over the front desk to stand in front of Chanyeol, pushing him in the chest with his fingers. “I texted you that I didn’t think it would work out between us! Now why are you bringing flowers around here?” 

“I am _working_ , you swine,” Chanyeol grits out, “I got a job as a delivery driver. What’s it to _you_ what I do with my freetime?”

“Oh, so now you’re following me around?” Baekhyun fires back.

“Guys,” Jongin says, “guys, what the fuck is going on here?” 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both ignore him.

“Guys,” Jongin says a bit louder, “Baekhyun!” he shouts.

“What?!” Baekhyun says, reeling on Jongin. “Did you set this up? Did you purposefully make it so Chanyeol would come by? Are these flowers even for Junmyeon? Is this—Oh my God, this is a set up, isn’t it? I told you my blind date with Junmyeon’s friend went badly and you set me up? Is this payback because I told Taemin you wanted Junmyeon to grab you by the waist and bend you like a pretzel?”

“You told Taemin _what now_?!” Jongin shouts back, face red in embarrassment. “Why would you tell him that?!”

“Why would you call Chanyeol over here?! I spilled food on him and ran out of the restaurant!”

“Please,” Chanyeol interjects, “I’m just here to do my j—”

“Shut up!” Jongin and Baekhyun say at the same time. 

“How could you?” Baekhyun asks.

“Why would you tell Taemin, now he’s gonna tell everyone else!”

Baekhyun and Jongin continue to bicker in the front of the lobby while Chanyeol stands there, awkwardly holding a bouquet of roses. 

“Is that why you won’t return my calls?” Chanyeol asks Baekhyun in a moment of reprieve from their bickering, “because you’re embarrassed you spilled food all over me?”

“Shut up!” Baekhyun says, face red. It gets quiet very suddenly, as he shyly looks away. “Maybe it is. Maybe it’s the reason I stopped replying to your text messages.”

“Aw, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol says, “I wasn’t even mad! Sure, my thighs burned because it was hot soup but honestly I was okay!” 

“Wait, you weren’t mad? You looked like you were gonna blow up on me?” Baekhyun turns away from Jongin, to completely face Chanyeol. 

“When you spilled the soup on me I had food in my mouth? I was choking on the salmon I ordered while you were running out the door.”

“Oh.”

“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” Chanyeol says. “Could we get a do-over?” He asks gently.

Baekhyun gives him a sly grin. “Yes, yes we can.”

“Saturday night?”

“You have my number.”

“Here’s some flowers,” Chanyeol says, handing Baekhyun the dozen roses in his hands. Baekhyun takes it greedily, pressing his face into the bouquet. 

“Aw, Chanyeol, you shouldn’t have.”

“He literally didn’t?!” Jongin finally interrupts them, absolutely offended that Chanyeol is giving his flowers away. 

Baekhyun turns around, throwing up a middle finger in his direction. “Shut up, Jongin,” he says, “I got me a date.” Baekhyun pulls Chanyeol by the collar of his work uniform and plants a kiss directly on his mouth.

“I heard screams,” Junmyeon’s voice comes up on Jongin’s right side. He turns to face him, and then looks back at the scene in front of him, with Baekhyun about to climb Chanyeol in the middle of the reception lobby. “What is going on here?” Junmyeon asks.

“A fucking nightmare,” Jongin grumbles, walking away. 

Oh well. There’s always another time.

3\. 

“This will work,” Chanyeol offers him, “it’s foolproof. Just make a love song playlist and send the link to Junmyeon. He’ll totally see how much of a romantic you are.”

“You better be right,” Jongin grumbles, “you owe me.”

“Yeah, I do,” Chanyeol agrees, “you got me a boyfriend!”

“I seem to be doing that for everyone except myself,” Jongin scoffs. He fidgets with the controls on his phone, adding a bunch of corny love songs to a playlist titled _For Junmyeon~._ Chanyeol is standing right behind him, hovering, but Jongin lets it go. 

“Add ‘Careless Whisper,’” Chanyeol says, “Baekhyun loves that song.”

“This is for _Junmyeon_ not Baekhyun!” Jongin rolls his eyes. He adds a few more songs into the playlist, from _Beautiful_ by Crush to _Crazy on You_ by Heart. Junmyeon will definitely like these songs. Jongin scrolls for an age on the app, while Chanyeol is breathing in his ear, as he quickly adds a few more classic Korean love songs before copying the text to send to Junmyeon.

“Oh, you should type out a cute note to go along with the playlist!” Chanyeol says, and Jongin nods along. That does sound like a good idea. Not wanting to accidentally send the message before he’s done, Jongin opens up his notes app on his phone and pastes the playlist link. He types out a nice message underneath it, explaining to Junmyeon everything he’s been feeling, and hoping that the playlist will help convey the words he’s too shy to say out loud.

 _I really like you hyung,_ Jongin writes, _so I hope this playlist finds you in good spirit. And if you’re not busy this weekend, maybe we can go on a date?_

“That’s so short,” Chanyeol chides, and Jongin startles a bit as he highlights the text to copy and paste it over to his messaging app.

“It’s the thought that counts!” Jongin whines, elbowing Chanyeol in the side. “I will have more to say in person once I get the date.”

“If you get the date.”

“Don’t say that!” Jongin swats Chanyeol’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “Now let me just send this to Junmyeon…”

Jongin switches through the controls on his phone, opening up the messaging app and searching for Junmyeon’s name among the clutter. 

He taps on Jummyeon’s name, but nothing happens. 

“Shit, my phone froze again,” Jongin says, “come on.” He furiously taps the screen, hitting the power button a bunch of times to no avail. 

“Let me see,” Chanyeol says, as Jongin still tries to get the chat to open. 

“Come on!” Jongin says loudly, a bit frustrated. He taps the screen furiously, all over the place, just hitting the buttons until _something_ works.

Finally, the screen starts moving, and Jongin notices that in his haste, the block of text _did_ in fact paste into the text box. “Thank god,” he says, hitting the send button quickly.

He doesn’t expect a response anytime soon, so Jongin does feel a bit surprised to feel his phone buzz in his hand. 

“What did he say! What did he say!” Chanyeol asks, excited.

“Let me look,” Jongin replies, barely containing his grin. He looks down at his phone, hoping to see good news and instead sees— 

“Fuck!” Jongin says, frustrated, “I sent the playlist to my brother!”

 _Hahahahahahaha,_ Jongdae writes, _baby’s got a crush on his boss~~ buy me lunch or I forward this to our entire family and email Junmyeon ur baby pics… Lol! Love ya!_

“Oh that sucks,” Chanyeol offers, after seeing the reply. He pats Jongin’s shoulder. “But hey, there’s always next time.”

Jongin groans.

4.

Jongin holds the cup of ice coffee in his hands, along with the bag of pastries from the bakery down the street. He ran out between classes as quickly as he could, careful to make sure no one saw him leave. Jongin quickly runs past the front desk and away from Baekhyun, before he tries to grab at the pastries. He completely walks past the employee lounge where no doubt, Taemin is probably in, scouring through the cabinets searching for someone else’s food. 

Jongin is light on his feet as he walks by all the doors of the dance class, until he makes it to the staircase at the end of the hall. He walks up the staircase with sure steps, careful to make sure he doesn’t drop anything. The second floor of the dance studio building is where Junmyeon keeps his office, and Jongin can only count on one hand the amount of times he’s actually come up here. Jongin takes a deep breath before pushing open the door.

It swings open, and he is greeted with the sight of Junmyeon’s personal secretary, Sehun, peeking up at him over the top of his desktop. 

“Hey, Sehun,” Jongin says, “Is Jun—Boss here?”

Sehun gives him a barely contained laugh, lips curling up in a smirk. “He’s in his office,” Sehun says, continuing to tap along on his keyboard. 

Jongin nods and takes that as the go-ahead. He walks past Sehun’s desk in the cramped room and makes his way over to another door, with a frosted glass window. He knocks twice and doesn’t receive an answer. 

“Sehun, he’s here right?”

“Yeah,” Sehun answers, without looking up. “Just go inside.”

“Are you sure?”

“Uh huh,” he smirks, “one hundred percent.”

Jongin gives him a weird look before pushing the door open and barging in. 

_Now or never_.

“Hey, Junmyeon, I—” Jongin starts, before the words die in his throat. Jongin hears Junmyeon’s voice, but it feels like it’s coming through a fog. Because all his brain can focus on is the taut, hard lines of Junmyeon’s abs, the muscular stretch of his arms, and the winding, wispy display of a rose branch tattoo that seems to creep up along Junmyeon’s abdomen and end at his shoulder. He has his shirt in one hand, and a tide pen in the other, as he furiously tries to remove what Jongin suspects is a curry stain from the pressed button down. 

Jongin can’t stop himself from staring. He thinks his mouth might also be open but he isn’t quite sure.

“Food,” he says smartly, and bingo, there’s the bowl of curry on top of Junmyeon’s desk. 

“I stained my shirt,” Junmyeon offers smartly, standing up straight. Which, oh, Jongin wishes he really didn’t do that, because now he can see Junmyeon’s _hot body_ from the front, in all his glory, and _Oh god, how many abs does this man have_?

“You’re so hot,” Jongin blurts out very loudly, and that seems to stop whatever ramble Junmyeon was halfway stuck through, because Jongin has finally realized that Junmyeon was talking to him _this entire time_ and he was too much of an idiot to stop ogling his boss and pay attention. Oh god, Jongin thinks, the office door is still open. That means that Sehun probably— 

“I’m what?” Junmyeon asks abruptly. His cheeks are just as red and Jongin’s face feels. And yet he has not made a single move to cover himself up.

“Oh my god,” Jongin says. He still has the coffee in his hands along with the pastries, and he thanks whatever higher power above that he at least did not _drop_ it when he walked in. He places them on top of Junmyeon’s desk gingerly, before muttering out a very lame, “Uh, I am...in class! These—for you, bye!” And about facing right out the door. 

Not even Sehun is fast enough to stop Jongin on his way out.

Oh well. There’s always next time.

5.

“Hey, Jongin,” Junmyeon says, a few days after the terrible coffee and pastry incident. Jongin is back in Junmyeon’s office—this time with Junmyeon in a shirt—as he was no less than summoned up here by evil secretary _Sehun_ himself. Jongin rubs a hand over his face. He wants this day to be over already.

“Hi, Boss,” Jongin says, avoiding Junmyeon’s gaze. He still can’t seem to get the image of Junmyeon’s perfect body out of his head. 

“Nini,” Junmyeon chides, “what did I say about just calling me ‘hyung,’ huh?” Jongin feels heat rise to his cheeks at the cute nickname. Junmyeon has a whole deck of little endearments he uses on Jongin, and every single one always makes his stomach turn into butterflies. 

“So,” Junmyeon says, “about the other day…”

“I’m sorry!” Jongin squeaks out, “I didn’t mean to intrude or anything, I—I wanted to do something nice for you and talk to you.” 

Junmyeon smiles at him. “It was very much appreciated. I enjoyed the pastries you chose for me.”

“T-Thank you.”

“But that isn’t why I called you up here,” Junmyeon continues, “I wanted to apologize that you had to see me like that, unprofessionally. I was eating… got food on my clothes, and it was a brand new shirt too.”

“Ah, h-hyung,” Jongin says, scratching the back of his neck, “it’s okay.” _Of course it is,_ Jongin’s brain continues, _I even wanna see you naked_.

“Okay,” Junmyeon agrees, “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t unintentionally offend you or something.”

Jongin nods along, and they sit in the comfortable silence in Junmyeon’s office.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Junmyeon asks.

“Hmm?”

“You said you wanted to talk to me about something else, aside from the pastries, right? What was it?” Junmyeon looks at him so openly, so sweetly, Jongin feels choked on his emotions.

 _Now or Never_ , Jongin chides himself, _now or never._

“Hyung,” Jongin asks softly, “What are you doing this weekend?”

Jongin looks up slowly from under his lashes, and sees Junmyeon giving him an inquisitive gaze. The frames of his glasses slide down his nose, and Jongin thinks yes, yes indeed, Junmyeon looks very beautiful like this. 

“I’m not sure yet,” Junmyeon replies easily, directing a small smile Jongin's way. “Why what’s up?”

Jongin feels giddy inside. This is it! He can do this!

“Well see,” Jongin starts off, feeling bold, “I was wondering if you’d want to go on a da—”

_Knock, knock._

Jongin stops mid sentence, turning towards the door. He sees Sehun poking his head in, eyes wide like a fish.

“Am I interrupting something?” Sehun asks, looking a little frazzled. He looks towards Junmyeon and Jongin before saying, “it’s just your mom, Boss. She keeps calling and asking about uh, the same old stuff again.” 

“Damn,” Junmyeon replies, touching his forehead and closing his eyes. “Tell her I will call her in an hour.” 

Sehun nods before closing the door. 

Junmyeon turns back to Jongin, but now Jongin feels… scared all over again. Like any confidence he held in that previous moment was pulled right out from under him. He can’t do this, he just _can’t_. 

“What did you want to ask me?” Junmyeon’s voice cuts through very gently, but Jongin’s lost his momentum. This is the fifth attempt at asking out Junmyeon. Maybe all these failed trials are a sign. 

Maybe, Jongin thinks, it just isn’t meant to be. “It was nothing, Boss,” he says, reverting to professionalism.

“Nini—”

“It’s nothing. Nevermind. I-I’m just gonna go,” Jongin grabs his coat off the back of the chair and his bag before he can think twice about it. He walks softly past Sehun as he exits Junmyeon’s cramped office, careful to make sure the first tears that fall down his cheeks are well outside of anyone’s view.

+1.

“Nini,” Junmyeon’s voice is barely heard over the sound of the music blasting out of the speakers in the dance studio. Immediately after leaving Junmyeon’s office Jongin ran to his dance room, turned the music on and let himself move across the room with wild abandon. 

He doesn’t actually know what time it is, or how long he has been dancing. The leotard sticks to his skin, stuck on his body with the sweat that’s soaking the rest of his clothes. Jongin feels a bit like he’s run ragged, but at least if he can dance himself to exhaustion, he won’t have to worry about having any energy left over to think on the last five failed attempts he’s had at trying to put himself out there. 

“Nini,” Junmyeon’s voice calls out again, and this time it is paired with the music stopping. 

“Huh?” Jongin says, twirling around to see Junmyeon standing by the stereo control panel, dressed in his long, warm looking coat. He’s looking at Jongin very fondly. 

“You’re the best dancer that works here,” Junmyeon says. “I love watching you dance the most.” Junmyeon steps away from the stereo set, walking towards Jongin slowly. 

“J-Junmyeon,” Jongin says, leaning his back against the mirror, trying to catch his breath. 

“Your energy when you dance is amazing—like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Junmyeon continues, voice steady. “You’re electrifying. I think you’re gorgeous, Jongin.”

“W-What’s going on?” Jongin asks shakily, cheeks ruddy red from all the praises Junmyeon keeps throwing his direction. “H-Ha, what brought this on?”

“Jongin you are exceptional. And you teach these kids how to be amazing everyday. But I think you’re amazing too. I think you’re really amazing,” Jummyeon’s now standing in front of him. And even though Jongin’s physically taller, Junmyeon makes him feel so small. 

“J-Junmyeon?”

“Didn’t I tell you before to call me ‘hyung’?” He asks softly. 

Jongin looks at Junmyeon’s face, the way his pale skin looks supple, how his cheekbones and jawline look cut from marble stone. Jongin licks his lips involuntarily, and he gasps when he watches the way Junmyeon’s eyes track the movement. 

“Hyung?” He asks softly.

“Go get showered, Nini,” Junmyeon says, “I’m taking you to dinner. Anywhere you want.”

“Oh,” Jongin responds, voice soft.

“And yes,” Junmyeon adds, before Jongin can even move an inch. “This is a _date._ ”

“Y-You mean like a r-real—like you’re asking me out—”

Junmyeon’s laugh is soft. He touches Jongin’s cheek, fingers grazing against his sweat soaked hair. “A real date,” he says, “just you and me. I’ve uh, wanted to ask you out for a really long time, but I wondered if that would be unprofessional or not.” Junmyeon laughs.

“Fuck the unprofessionalism,” Jongin says. He turns his face to kiss Junmyeon’s palm. He feels like he’s floating on air. “I’ve been trying to ask you out for months and I failed every time.” 

“Sehun said after you left—and I quote—‘watching him fail at this isn’t even funny anymore. Now it’s just fucking sad. Go ask him out now before I do it on your behalf.’” 

Jongin gapes at him. “Sehun knew?!” A pause. “Wait you liked me too?!”

“Seems everyone except us knew what was going on,” Junmyeon adds wryly. 

“Hyung, we’ve been so stupid.” 

“We have.”

“Do we really need to go on a date right now?” Jongin asks. “Can we just skip it and go to your place?” 

“Eager, huh?”

Jongin throws him a _look,_ as memories of Junmyeon’s shirtless body fill his head.“You have no idea.” 

“We’re going to eat first,” Junmyeon says, tapping Jongin’s cheek gently with his palm. Jongin pouts. Junmyeon runs his thumb over Jongin’s bottom lip, and Jongin does his absolute best to keep his composure.

“But after dinner, if you want, you can show me how flexible you really are.”

Jongin laughs, a genuinely happy sound. He licks the pad of Junmyeon’s thumb, swiping it with his tongue. “What if I say I don’t put out on the first date?”

“Then I’d say there’s always a second, a third…,” Junmyeon traces the apple of Jongin’s cheek with his thumb, runs his fingers over his gentle cupid’s bow on his upper lip. Jongin feels like the air is being stolen from his lungs. His sweat soaked clothes feel too tight against his skin.

“Yeah?” Jongin asks, breathless.

“Yes,” he replies. “Now go and shower, Nini, so we can eat.”

“Wait,” he says slowly, because this is _one_ thing he does want a straight answer on. “This means you’ll be my boyfriend, right? Like, I know you’re my boss and I don’t think that’s weird but you’ll be my boyfriend right like this isn’t just a casual thing?”

Junmyeon’s touch on his face is gentle and inviting. “Yes, Jongin,” he says softly, “this means I’ll be your boyfriend.”

“Okay!” Jongin nods his head vigorously pulling himself away from the wall to grab his bag where his change of clothes lies. Junmyeon pats him on the butt as he makes his way out, and the unintentional squeak that leaves Jongin’s mouth would embarrass him if not for the way it gets the most delightful laugh out of Junmyeon.

Dinner is _magical_ , if Jongin could say so himself. Junmyeon let him choose the restaurant and watched him scarf down an entire basket of chicken wings all on his own. Jongin thinks Junmyeon may have snuck in a few pictures here and there, too. The thought makes him smile inside.

They spend the dinner eating and chatting, catching up on random things that happened during work, and Junmyeon listens attentively as Jongin regales stories of his students and their various journeys in dance.

“You really are amazing,” Junmyeon says, as they’re cleaning up and he flags the waitress down to pay for their meal. “And I love hearing you talk about how much dancing means to you.”

Jongin, all at once, starts to feel a little shy. “Hyuuung,” he whines, and knows his cheeks are crimson red. They make their way out of the restaurant, Junmyeon’s fingers holding Jongin’s palm. They walk together towards Junmyeon’s car—Jongin having dropped his car back at his apartment complex—with Jongin taking shorter strides to keep pace with Junmyeon.

“I had a lot of fun tonight, hyung,” Jongin says, kissing Junmyeon’s hand after he buckles himself in his seat. He spots the light blush on Junmyeon’s features as he peels out of the parking lot, making his way back to his house. Jongin feels like he’s walking on cloud nine. He keeps glancing over the middle of the car to watch Junmyeon as he drives, one of his hands resting on Jongin’s thigh.

“Don’t take me home,” Jongin says, after a long bout of silence, and once he realizes where Junmyeon is driving towards. “Take me to your place.”

Junmyeon snorts. “I thought you didn't put out on the first date.”

“Shut up,” Jongin says, and rests his fingers over Junmyeon’s hand on his thigh. “Take me to your house.”

Junmyeon, at least, doesn’t laugh at Jongin’s desperation. 

_That much_.

+2 (Bonus)

“Hyung,” Jongin says, his voice a whine as Junmyeon pushes him back on the bed, stretching him out. Jongin’s naked, legs up and spread wide, as Junmyeon works him open.

“Fuck, you are so hot like this,” Junmyeon grits out, curling his fingers inside Jongin. “I cannot get over how hot you are like this.”

“Shut up,” Jongin says, cheeks red, “shut up and make me come.”

“Magic word?”

“Please?” Jongin whines.

Junmyeon laughs, taking his shirt off and spreading Jongin’s legs even farther apart. “God,” he says, “you really are flexible.” Junmyeon divests himself of the rest of his clothes, and Jongin has all but a few seconds to enjoy the view of Junmyeon’s abs and body tattoo again, before he watches him slide a condom down himself and push in.

“Fuck,” Jongin groans.It’s been a long time since he’s done this. 

“You’re—ah, so fucking tight,” Junmyeon bites out, pushing in slowly before bottoming out completely. Jongin whimpers at the fullness Junmyeon leaves, leaning his head up slowly to ask for a kiss.

“Please,” he begs, “kiss me.”

Junmyeon starts moving, making shallow thrusts in and out of Jongin. He puts his hands all over Junmyeon’s body, fingers tracing up the lines of Junmyeon’s abs, while Junmyeon leans down to leave him small butterfly kisses all over his face. Jongin moans into Junmyeon’s mouth, body tensing up around each thrust of Junmyeon inside him. Even though Junmyeon was shorter than him, he makes Jongin feel so _safe_.

“You make me f-feel small,” Jongin gasps on a particularly hard thrust. “I l-love it so much.”

Junmyeon reaches between their bodies, grabbing Jongin’s cock in his hand. He makes quick work of jerking Jongin off in time with his thrusts, and Jongin enjoys the feeling of just laying back and letting Junmyeon take over. It’s not long after that before he’s coming from the pleasure of Junmyeon’s thrusts and his hand, coating his own abdomen and Junmyeon’s fingers with his come. Junmyeon drags his fingers through the mess on Jongin’s stomach, before bringing it to Jongin’s own lips, saying, “ _suck_.” 

Jongin takes Junmyeon’s fingers into his mouth, sucking them hard, imagining it was Junmyeon’s cock in his mouth instead. Junmyeon groans above him, thrusts becoming erratic before he comes hard inside Jongin, into the condom. Maybe next time, Jongin thinks, they could do without it.

Junmyeon pulls out gently, taking the condom off and throwing it in the trash can near his bed. He wipes the mess off of Jongin’s tummy with a wipe, before discarding it completely.

“Come here,” Jongin says, pulling Junmyeon towards his body once he gets closer to the bed. Junmyeon falls on top of him, unceremoniously, and kisses all over Jongin’s face again. Jongin finds his hands wandering Junmyeon’s body again, his fingers digging into Junmyeon’s hip bones, nails scratching against his skin. 

“I wanna do it again,” Jongin says, breathless, once Junmyeon pulls back from kissing him. 

“Again?” Junmyeon asks, “we just finished!” He laughs, sitting back on Jongin

“There’s always next time,” Junmyeon says, and Jongin laughs at the use of his words. Thinking about how that became his mantra in his spectacularly terrible attempts at getting with Junmyeon.

Junmyeon rolls off of Jongin and lays next to him, eyes watching Jongin carefully. He cups Jongin’s face softly, running his thumb over the apple of Jongin’s cheekbone. 

Jongin traces his fingers up the planes of Junmyeon’s chest, before cupping his neck in return. “Yeah,” Jongin agrees, “I guess you’re right, there’s always next time,” he leans in and kisses Junmyeon around a laugh, “so let’s make it right now.” 

Junmyeon’s answering laugh is music to Jongin’s ears.

**Author's Note:**

> please do leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed the fic. they are very encouraging!
> 
> thanks for reading! have a great day ❤️


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